Stamford Advocate (Sunday)

In salon suites, stylists eke through pandemic

- By Alexander Soule

As the calendar flipped to March, Kerry Tolisano admits she was uncertain about the wisdom of getting on a flight to Cancun for a meeting with fellow My Salon Suite franchisee­s, given escalating warnings about potential coronaviru­s travel bans.

Tolisano opted to go to Mexico, collecting a “franchisee of the year” award while there — but with last year’s job no comparison to the work in 2020 to get her Connecticu­t salon tenants back up and running, after being forced to close between March and June in an effort to contain COVID-19.

Tolisano and spouse Jay have three My Salon Suite locations in Fairfield, Shelton and Stamford, which have maxed out their available capacity leasing suites to just over 80 tenants across the three locations. All saw their businesses upended by Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive order for salons to close March 20, with the order not lifted until early June and rules governing sanitizing salons and limited client visitation­s.

That left the Tolisanos scrambling to ready their suites for the reopening, even as they waived rent for their tenants who are solo entreprene­urs spanning hair and beauty services, some with limited track records that put them at the back of the line for some business assistance programs that have emerged in the wake of the pandemic.

“We needed to ... make sure that these profession­als were not responsibl­e for rent during the shutdown, because our goal is to get everyone back in — and make sure they get back without having debt hanging over their heads,” Tolisano said. “Our business wouldn’t be possible without them; their business wouldn’t be possible without us. It’s a ... symbiotic relationsh­ip.”

The Tolisanos found helping hands along the way themselves, including from their own landlords in Fairfield, Shelton and Stamford who extended concession­s on their lease terms. A business partner owned a cleaning business, so the Tolisanos were able to get a ready supply. And after seeing a Facebook post about a window treatments company in Waterbury called Porter Preston that had begun making face shields, she put in an inquiry.

“Within two days they showed up at my doorstep,” she said. “It was pretty cool.”

But coronaviru­s hit hard on other fronts, with Jay’s mother contractin­g the virus at her nursing home — she recovered — and some My Salon Suite tenants going onto unemployme­nt compensati­on, as independen­t contractor­s have been allowed to do for the first time under the Coronaviru­s Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act with more than 60,000 in Connecticu­t currently drawing benefits. In some instances, Tolisano said, that was the result of having to stay home to mind children after schools closed in March.

Tolisano estimates about one in every four tenants landed Paycheck Protection Program loans that banks are forgiving under U.S. Department of the Treasury rules for businesses that do not lay off employees — easy money for independen­t contractor­s who by definition have no other workers on the payroll.

Nicole DaSilva sought aid herself — unsuccessf­ully — after starting up her eyelash and makeup spa Nicole Taylor Beauty only last autumn at My Salon Suite in Shelton, fresh out of cosmetolog­y school. She said business volume has more than doubled since the reopening, however, with some clients wanting to showcase their eyelashes now that their faces are hidden behind masks that are

“We needed to ... make sure that these profession­als were not responsibl­e for rent during the shutdown, because our goal is to get everyone back in — and make sure they get back without having debt hanging over their heads. Our business wouldn’t be possible without them; their business wouldn’t be possible without us.”

Kerry Tolisano, My Salon Suite franchisee

mandatory in public settings.

“It came in the blink of an eye,” DaSilva said. “I think everyone’s in a rut with themselves, and they want to do something to make themselves feel better.”

As the case with other

salons under Connecticu­t’s reopening rules, salon customers must schedule appointmen­ts in advance so that people do not congregate in lobbies. Facilities like My Salon Suite, Phenix Salon Suites and Salons by JC have one in-built advantage in the coronaviru­s era — interior architectu­re that divides salons into individual rooms

rather than open bays, limiting exposure to other clients during visits.

Tolisano said their current franchise agreement allows for two more locations locally, which she expects in time they will exercise amid any layoffs by larger salons that open up the possibilit­y for stylists to strike out on their own.

“If, unfortunat­ely, you left a salon that you had been at for 20 years to start your own business two months before coronaviru­s hit, then you were in a really tough spot,” Tolisano said. “We have seen an increase in [tenant] interest since the reopening.”

 ?? Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? Jamie Rotunno works on the hair of client Lauren O’Brien, of Ansonia, in the Dye Hard Hair suite located in the My Salon Suite franchise location in Shelton on Wednesday.
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticu­t Media Jamie Rotunno works on the hair of client Lauren O’Brien, of Ansonia, in the Dye Hard Hair suite located in the My Salon Suite franchise location in Shelton on Wednesday.
 ?? Jason Rearick / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? My Salon Suite franchisee at the 2015 opening of the Stamford location she co-owns, along with suites in Fairfield and Shelton.
Jason Rearick / Hearst Connecticu­t Media My Salon Suite franchisee at the 2015 opening of the Stamford location she co-owns, along with suites in Fairfield and Shelton.

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